Suction cleaner



April 30, 1935. H. B. WHITE SUCTION CLEANER Filed May 8, 1933 Huf y/9B. Wife 4 g ATTO RN EY Fatentecl Apr. 30, E935 SUCTION CLEANER Harry B. White, Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application May 8, 1933, Serial No. 669,875

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to suction cleaners in general and in particular to a new and improved driving pulley designed for use in a suction cleaner. More specifically the invention 5 comprises a provision in a suction cleaner of a driving pulley adapted to be made an integral part of the motor shaft and adapted to cooperate with a power-transmitting belt to rotate the suction cleaner agitator.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved pulley for use in suction cleaner. A further object is a provision, in a suction cleaner, of a driving pulley which is so shaped that the power-transmitting belt will remain on the driving crown thereof irrespective of the manner or direction in which the belt encircles the pulley. Still another object is the provision of a driving p'ulley adapted to be positioned in the dirt-laden air passageway in a suction cleaner and to extend through the eye of the fan chamber and which is so designed that an incorrectly attached belt will tend to climb in the direction of the proper belt-contacting point regardless of the manner in which it is attached to the pulley. A further object is the provision in a suction cleaner of a driving pulley positioned in the dirt-laden air passageway and extended into the eye of the fan chamber, which is provided with enlarged shoulders at the sides of the driving crown of the pulley, and which is of reduced diameter at the eye of the fan chamber in order not to materially restrict the flow of air therethrough. These and other more specific objects will appear upon reading the following specification and claims and upon considering in connection therewith the attached drawing to which they relate.

In the drawing, in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is disclosed:

Figure l is a side view of a suction cleaner with certain parts broken away to show the present invention embodied therein;

Figure 2 is a side view of the suction cleaner motor and the fan with the pulley constructed in accordance with the present invention secured to the motor shaft; and g Figure 3 is an enlarged side view of the pulley per so constructed in accordance with the present invention. I

In the modern suction clean'er the cleaning effectiveness of the suction-producing means is increased by the presence of a positive agitating means in the cleaner nozzle. means are practically without exception of the rotary type-and are belt-driven from a.v pulley 'These agitating (oi. 15-s) carried by the motor shaft. This driving pulley usually is positioned just outside the fan chamber in the dirt-laden air passageway, being carried by the motor shaft which also carries the suctioncreating fan within the fan chamber. In the op- It eration of the machine the dirt-laden cleaning air is drawn through the nozzle, down the dirt-laden air stream, and through the eye of the fan chamber where it passes the driving pulley. If the driving pulley on its adjacent shaft be of relal0 tively small diameter, matter such as hair and string will wrap around it as it rotates. If it be of relatively large diameter it forms an obstruction in the path of the air by reducing the effective area of the eye of the fan chamber. Further- 15 more, as suction cleaners belong. to that class 'of tools which are often used by persons relatively unskilled in mechanical details, and as the driving belt is subject to breakage, it often occurs that in replacement by the user, the belt is positioned upon the driving'pulley in such a manner that it encircles that member in' the wrong direction. As the clearances between the stationary and moving parts in the cleaner are relatively small the belt, when incorrectly connected, tends to assume a position upon the pulley which brings it into contact with a stationary element of the cleaner. This relationship results in a rubbing contact and an unnecessary load upon the cleaner motor, producing, if continued, overheating in the motor and reduced belt life. In the driving pulley constructed in accordance with the present invention these problems have been considered and overcome. e

Referring again to the drawing, a modern suction cleaner is disclosed and comprises a nozzle l, a'fan chamber 2 which is interiorly connected to the nozzle by the'air conduit 3 and the chamber inlet 4. A rotating fan 5 within the fan chamber functions to draw air through the nozzle I, down the passageway 3, through the inlet 4, and exhaust it through the outlet 6 into the detachable dust bag 1 where the foreign matter is sepaatated from the air. A driving motor 8 is provided, the shaft 9 of which extends into the fan chamber 2, where it carries the fan 5, and is connected in screw threaded relationship with the end of the pulley unit. As in the usual suction cleaner, front and rear wheels H and I 2 are provided which movably support the machine upon a surface covering undergoing cleaning. A pivoted handle [3 is provided by which the operator may readily exert the propelling force necessary to operate the machine. w

The driving pulley I is constructed in a very definite manner and includes a crowned surface l4 near its outer end, the limits of the surface being defined by spaced shoulders I5 and The circular shoulder or flange I5 defines the extreme outer end of the pulley unit while the inner shoulder 16 defines the line between a portion I! of the pulley which decreases gradually in diameter from the shoulder H; to a point which is positioned at the eye of the fan chamber, as is clearly seen in Figure 1. The upper end of the pulley is bored, as at l8, and is provided with interior screw threads [9 which cooperate withthe threaded end of the motor shaft 9 to retain the pulley relative to the driving shaft.

In the operation of the suctioncleaner embodying a driving pulley constructed in accordance with the present invention, a driving belt 20 extends between the pulley l0 and a rotary agitator 2| rotatably carried within the nozzle I. With the belt correctly connected to the driving pulley the tension side thereof extends perpendicularly to the shaft, as is shown clearly in Figure 1, and the belt rides in equilibrium upon the crowned surface 14 of the pulley. In the event, however, that the belt 20 is placed upon the driving pulley so that it encircles that member in the opposite direction, so that the tension side of the belt comes from the top of the agitator rather than from the bottom thereof, then the belt will tend to climb over the shoulder l6 and on to the inclined surface I1, a result easily accomplished at high rotary speeds. The ten- 'sion side of the belt, in the usual belt and shaft construction, tends to extend perpendicularly to the shaft axis. In the present construction this tendency urges the belt to climb, in the reversed relationship, upwardly to a point at which it rubs against the under side of the fan chamber 2, which point is indicated by the reference character 23 in Figure 1. To minimize this increasedload upon the driving motor, the surface of contact of the belt in this new position on the driving pulley is of reduced radius on the surface 11. Opposing this tendency in applicants construction is the sloping surface H, which tends to cause the belt to move to the point of greatest shaft diameter and in the direction of the seat proper.

The provision of the shoulder l6 and the sloping surface I! in the pulley construction is of extreme importance, as the shoulder insures the normal retention of the belt within its correct field of operation, the presence of largediameter body immediately thereadjacent prevents the collection of foreign matter, and the reduction of the pulley size as the surface I! approaches the eye of the fan chamber reduces the obstruction which the pulley shaft of necessity places in the path of the dirt-laden air.

I claim:

1. In a suction cleaner, a nozzle, a rotary agitator in said nozzle, a fan chamber, a fan in said chamber, an air passageway connecting said chamber to said nozzle, 3, driving pulley positioned in said passageway and extended into the eye of said fan chamber, and a power-transmitting belt between said pulley and said agitator, said pulley including a belt-contacting surface defined at one side by a shoulder of enlarged diameter and said pulley gradually decreasing in diameter from said shoulder to a point in the eye of said fan chamber for the purpose of decreasing the restriction of that eye and for the further purpose of decreasing the peripheral speed of said pulley at that point.

2. In a suction cleaner, anozzle, a rotary agitator in said nozzle, a fan chamber, a fan in said fan chamber, an air passageway connecting said chamber to said nozzle, a unidirectional driving pulley positioned in said passageway and extended into the eye of said fan chamber, and a, power-transmitting belt between said pulley and said agitator, said pulley being provided with a belt-seating portion at a position on which the belt normally rides with the agitator rotating in one direction, shoulders of increased radius defining the limits of said portion, said pulley gradually decreasing in diameter from one of said shoulders to a point in the eye of said fan chamber for the purpose of causing said belt to climb towards said belt-seating portion when displaced therefrom.

3. In a suction cleaner, a nozzle, a rotary agitator in said nozzle, a, fan chamber, a fan in said fan chamber, an air passageway connecting said chamber to said nozzle, a unidirectional driving pulley positioned in said passageway and extended into the eye of said fan chamber, said pulley including a belt-seating portion so positioned that the tension side of said belt from the agitator extends substantially perpendicular thereto with said belt properly related to said pulley, shoulders of increased radius defining the limits of said portion, said pulley gradually decreasing in diameter from one of said shoulders in the direction of the eye of said'fan chamber for the purpose of causing said belt to climb toward said belt-seating portion when displaced therefrom.

HARRY B. WHITE. 

